Version 4.5 restores support for Microsoft’s Azure Blob Storage connections, adds a new SSH/SFTP protocol implementation and adds support for updating Windows users via the Taskbar’s Notification area.

Support for Azure Blob Storage connections was originally dropped in version 4.3 over a year ago alongside Google Drive and Dropbox, so its return is likely to be met with favor from users of the Microsoft storage system.

The new SSH/SFTP protocol implementation makes it possible for users to get public key authentication over SFTP using both OpenSSH agents (Mac) and Pageant (Windows). Also added is support for GZIP compression along with ECDSA public key authentication.

The new build also adds support for mutual two-way TLS connections over secured FTP and HTTPS (WebDAV). Users will now be prompted to select their certificate with private key when the server requests such a client certificate for authentication. Users can find these certificates within the Windows Certificate Manager or OS X Keychain.

One other change sees Windows users now able to receive notifications via the system tray. The release also fixes a number of bugs, including one that led to a broken pipe with uploads to Amazon S3 services, along with a 404 error response when downloading folders from S3 or OpenStack Swift.

One final fix should see users no longer repeatedly prompted to provide a private key password over SFTP.

CyberDuck 4.5 is available now as a free, open-source download for Windows and Mac. Users are encouraged to donate to ensure the continued development of the software, or can alternatively purchase the Mac version for $23.99 through the Mac App Store.